As Hurricane Dean approached Mexico as a Category 5 hurricane, offshore oil rigs were evacuated and shut down. With a hurricane, there is generally enough warning to plan orderly shutdowns and evacuations. The same is not true of many other natural disasters. Look at your emergency response plan; how ready are you for a natural disaster? Here are some points to consider when reviewing and updating your emergency response plan:

• Phone lists for key personnel—are they up to date and have they been distributed to personnel who need them? Also, there should be at least one, but preferably two, alternates provided for key contacts. Personnel who are on the emergency contact phone lists should be required to report phone number changes, and when a person on the contact lists leaves the company, the lists should be updated immediately. If someone hasn't been hired to take his or her place, an alternate or interim contact should be named.
• Have you planned for the loss of services? Where it might affect how you might respond to a natural disaster, your plan should include contingencies for loss of electricity, water, telephone service, sewer service, etc.
• Make sure your plans cover what will happen both when the facility is operating and when it is not. Do you have operations or materials that could pose a danger to the public? If the disaster occurs outside of normal operating hours, who will be responsible for ensuring the public is not affected by those materials or operations? For example, are there valves or processes that should be shut off? Is there equipment that should be secured or chemicals that need to be moved to a different storage location?
• Make sure you've assigned sufficient personnel. While it's fine to designate a lead person, it doesn't help if the job takes five people to accomplish and the lead person has no way of calling in help. If, for example, your plan calls for stock to be moved to higher shelves in the case of a flood warning, make sure you've assigned the right number and type of personnel (forklift drivers, for example) to accomplish the task.
• Have you included how work will restart after the disaster? Your emergency response plan should include information on who will be responsible for determining if the workplace is safe enough for work to resume; who will be responsible for cleaning the facility, if needed; and how employees will be notified about returning to work.
• Make sure new employees know that there is an emergency response plan and what their responsibilities are under the plan. Also, review the plan with employees at least annually.

Because natural disasters are usually preceded by little or no warning, there is no time to review your operations and decide how to prepare. A carefully thought-out, up-to-date emergency response plan will allow appropriate, coordinated action that will protect both lives and property in the event of a natural disaster.

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More articles on Emergency Planning and Response

Health and Safety: Is Your Business Ready for Disaster?, from the October 2005 issue of COCA (Start your guest access and get this now)